Gonna try something new tonight, and you should expect it every week around this time from here on out. In a moment I've been waiting for pretty much all my life, I finally got to drop a pun -- albeit a bad one -- using my last name.
The point of this weekly rundown of the weekend's IU basketball news is to just spray this space with hyperlinks to all things IU basketball related.
Without further ado:
Crean to Indy Coach Tom Crean made it up to Indianapolis on Sunday for the Colts-Ravens beatdown. Crean was of course there Sunday to check in on his brother-in-law, Ravens coach John Harbaugh. He also got to see former IU football and basketball player Cam Cameron, though something tells The ZOsterman Weekend that Cameron didn't enjoy his welcome-home present.
TZW also wants to know if Crean wants to bring Cameron -- a Terre Haute native and former Bob Knight charge -- back to speak to players. I assume Cameron's time in charge down on South Beach won't be on the ticket.
Crean to give Gambles a chance Hooray for more puns.
Steven Gambles comes to the Hoosiers from North Central High School, the institution that brought you Eric Gordon and A.J. Ratliff. Listed at just 6-foot-4 but with a muscular build, Gambles is apparently a forward, according to IUHoosiers.
It's been a strange road for the man who once took the floor up State Route 37. Gambles spent a redshirt year at IUPUI and last season played at Lambuth, a Methodist school about an hour and a half northeast of Memphis.
But Gambles will be playing his basketball at Assembly Hall, at least for the next few months. The ZOsterman Weekend raises its glass to him.
Haunting developments It's been alluded to several times both in this space and several other blogs, but Crean and the program will be hosting something he called "the hall of house of hoops" in addition to an open scrimmage. Fittingly, the HHOH, if I may be so bold, will be held on Oct. 31.
The ZOsterman Weekend is still awaiting confirmation as to what exactly this (or any) Haunted Hall of Hoops entails. Anyone who can enlighten is surely encouraged to do so.
The Aaron Cosby Show In what has been a rather fast-developing twist to the never-ending story that is Tom Crean on the recruiting trail, Louisville native and guard Aaron Cosby has been drawing plenty of Cream and Crimson interest of late.
TZW leaves you a link here to a story penned by the indefatigable John Decker of Hoosier Nation. You may read them should you have an Insider subscription.
Sadly, the ZOsterman Weekend is a rather low-budget enterprise, and must be content to reading the teasers. Still, IU's interest in Cosby -- who is also considering a host of other schools, including Auburn, Purdue, Minnesota, Louisville and Western Kentucky -- has exploded in the last week to two weeks, and with scholarships at a premium after next season, there certainly must be genuine interest from the Bloomington end of this tandem.
Fall ball Mentioned this in a previous post, but several schools, including Illinois, squeezed through a loophole allowing them special dispensation to hold their official start of practice a week early. Illinois did so with a bang, holding a makeshift scrimmage at halftime of their homecoming loss to Minnesota (TZW's good friend Steve-O was rather happy with that score).
While this is a loophole that will soon be closed, the event allowed Illinois to host several recruits, as pointed out by the Weekend's colleague Jordan Cohen. It may not seem like Tom Crean needs that extra boost in recruiting, but I'm sure he'd take it, along with any extra practice time he could get.
Weekend recommendation Whatever you do, the ZOsterman Weekend recommends that it should in no way involve the movie "The General's Daughter." Sucked into seeing it out of sheer curiosity Sunday was a mistake, as well as 116 minutes of life that can never be returned. Perhaps it is your speed, but next time, TZW will probably just reach for something more well-rounded, like a Curious George novel.
With the IU football team out of town (and out of touch, time and probably hope), TZW recommends a noon date with the Georgia Tech-Clemson game, made all the more interesting by the firing of Tommy Bowden today.
This game offers an interesting dichotomy between two teams with reversed fortunes, Clemson picked to finish atop the ACC but now 3-3 without a coach or a quarterback and Georgia Tech in rebuilding mode but 5-1 and running over everyone -- save, perhaps, Gardner-Webb, who almost felled the bumble bees last Saturday. Could be a good one, could be a stinker ... but way better than "The General's Daughter."
The ZOsterman Weekend won't recommend anything for Friday night, since you will all assuredly be at Hoosier Hysteria, or Sunday, since the library or a strong hangover cure will likely be in the cards.
